Every man is liable to suffer in hell, and it is difficult to be certain of exemption therefrom. According to the Prophet, there are 70,000 apartments in hell, each apartment containing 70,000 doors, each door having 70,000 serpents and 70,000 scorpions; and the unbelievers and the evil-minded cannot help passing through each of them.... Such is the description of hell, and of its subdivisions which correspond to the number of earthly desires. The factor seven in the subdivisions corresponds to the seven organs used in the commission of sins. If you wish to know your destiny, you should look at your character, since your natural inclinations presage your destiny. If they tend to good, you are not intended for hell; if they tend to evil, you are destined therefor. As the =Qurân= says, "The virtuous are to be blessed in heaven, the vicious are to suffer in hell." Here is a secret. When death takes away the earthly veil (the body), the desire-nature is yet more or less tainted with earthly impurities. In some cases the mirror of the soul may be too darkened to admit of any cleansing. Such a soul is eternally barred from the Divine Presence. In other cases, (_i. e._ unrighteous believers), the rust is capable of being cleansed, and so the desire-nature is exposed to hell-fire to the extent of the purification needed. The time varies from a brief moment to 7,000 years. No man quits this earth without some impurity, however slight, in him.--_Letter 99._ HEAVEN. Heaven contains apartments made of various gems, the outside of which is visible from the inside, and the inside from the outside. They abound with pleasures and comforts not tasted or conceived by men (on earth).... Heaven is a vast palace made of a single pearl. It contains seven apartments of red ruby. Each apartment contains seven rooms of green emerald. Each room is provided with a gorgeous seat, 70 trays and 70 maid-servants. Each seat has 70 beddings of different colours, and a Houri as the bed-maker. Each tray is furnished with 70 dishes. Heaven is intended for those who salute and feed others, fast and pray.... When the dwellers of heaven wish to communicate with their brothers, their seats move the one towards the other. Thus they meet and talk of their past relationship on earth. There is procreation in heaven if so desired: conception, birth, and maturity all taking place instantaneously. The dwellers of heaven are beautiful as =Joseph=, and well-behaved as =Mohammad=. The duration of the lowest heavenly life is 500 years. Such is the heaven of the ordinary soul. Now as to the destiny of the Prophets, the purest Devotees, and the Saints. Theirs is the vision of the Divine Face, in the supreme relish of which the grosser enjoyments of heaven are forgotten. Orthodox =Islâm= does not regard the Divine Vision as the fruit of human works, but as the result of Divine Grace. It holds a similar doctrine as to the Faith in the Lord of human beings upon earth.--_Letter 100._